The present invention relates to a wrapping apparatus and more particularly to a wrapping material tail clamp, cut, and sealing system.
Many types of items are packaged in roll or coil form. For example, steel and aluminum sheet are often coiled for storage, transport, and handling. Such coils can be up to five to seven feet in diameter.
In order to protect and preserve the appearance of the steel or aluminum, the coils are typically wrapped with protective material in the form of a film. Such a film can be a single wrap of, for example, a low density polyethylene stretch film. The wrap can also include a fabric or other woven or non-woven material wrapped along with the polyethylene film.
One known machine for carrying out the wrapping process uses a specifically shaped track to carry a film dispensing shuttle through the eye of the coil, while the coil is slowly rotated on its axis on a set of block rollers. The complete body of the coil is effectively sealed by a cocoon of stretch film.
Generally, the machine has a heavy-duty, generally oval shaped track that provides the guide for the film-dispensing shuttle that travels around the inside of the track. The track has a hinged end section or track arm that pivots upwardly to open the track so that a lower portion of the track can be moved into the eye of the coil. The track is adjustable in the vertical plane to accommodate different coil diameters.
The track is typically movable on rails to advance into the eye of the coil. The machine can also be movable transverse to the direction of the track. Such a machine is commercially available from ITW Fleetwood-Signode of Glenview, Ill., under the name CoilMaster. One such wrapping system is described in Albert, et al. published U.S. Patent application, US Publication No. 2008-0168643, which disclosure is incorporated herein by reference.
The film dispensing shuttle includes one or more tractors and trailers that are designed to drive themselves around the track. The film is provided on the shuttle in rolls that have a finite amount of material wound thereon and as such require periodic replacement. Rolls may have to be replaced during the winding of a coil, or, conversely, a coil wrapping may be completed with film remaining on a roll. In either scenario, there are times when the film may have to be clamped, cut and sealed during the wrapping operation. To prevent the “tail” of the film from hanging from the coil, in known operations the tail is manually tucked into the wound film to prevent the tail from interfering with movement of the shuttle and to prevent unwrapping of the film. Other devices are known that seal the tail to the coil. While this may be effective, there is the opportunity for the film to become loose, thus compromising the integrity of the wrap.
Accordingly, there is a need for a system and method for clamping, cutting, and sealing the tail of the film. Desirably, such a system can effect this operation while a coil is on the wrapping machine. More desirably, such a system and method secures the film tail coming from the shuttle and prevents the film from slipping and unwrapping from the coil. More desirably still, such a system and method are used to clamp the film between itself and the shuttles, seal the film to the coil, and cut the film between the coil and itself. This holds the film (from the shuttles) at the end of the wrapping cycle to reduce the time and labor required to assure that a subsequent wrapping operation is carried out without undue labor.